The happenings in the Haight-Ashbury failed to plant a new republic acceptable to middle Americans. By conjoining sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, however, youth forged a worldview that criticized and redirected U.S. cultural norms. In adolescence, these baby boomers rarely trusted anyone over 30; fifty years later they despair for having left such a legacy.
By W. Andrew Achenbaum
The Summer of Love’s epicenter (1967) was the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, a 25-squareblock district of San Francisco. The neighborhood’s Victorian houses, originally built for Irish workers, were in 1967 rented to students and musicians (such as guitarist Jerry Garcia, his wife, and his band, The Grateful Dead) for $25 a month. That year, about 100,000 youth traveled to Haight-Ashbury from the United States and abroad.